Check out our article to learn everything you need to know about the Netflix interview process as well as how to stand out in your applications and how to make more money in your salary negotiation. Fellows in the Pathrise program work with their mentors to increase their application response rate by 3x, interview scores by 2x, and their offered compensation by 10-20% through negotiation alone. We have helped 1,000+ people land great jobs at companies like Netflix, Apple, Google, Stripe, and more.
When applying for a job at Netflix, knowledge is power. Understanding the company’s mission, values, culture, products, and interview structure gives applicants a major advantage, even over people with stronger resumes or skills. Even more powerful? Applicants with a referral from a current Netflix employee have almost 15 times the odds of getting an offer. But what if you don’t have a generous buddy with a Netflix badge and interview experience?
Luckily, we’ve collected data on the Netflix interview process and are happy to share. At Pathrise, we’ve helped 1,000+ students and professionals land great tech jobs, so we know what works and what doesn’t. We have data-backed tips for each step of the Netflix job search that’s proven to help candidates succeed. While no two tech companies are exactly alike, top tech company interview processes often have a lot in common. Use this post to prepare for an interview at Netflix or a similar company.
Netflix application process
Big tech companies like Netflix are almost always hiring, meaning job seekers don’t have to wait to find their 2,100+ open positions on LinkedIn and other job boards. While we encourage all job seekers to create a LinkedIn profile, Netflix roles get thousands of instant submissions. How can you make your application stand out in a sea of impressive resumes?
Applicants can increase their odds with “reverse recruiting”, or contacting recruiters directly. First, search LinkedIn for Netflix technical recruiters and high level team members. Next, narrow down the results to the people you have a connection with, like a shared hobby or college. For more information on how to reach out to recruiters and a list of contacts, including for Netflix recruiters, check out our full guide.
Finally, it’s time to write a LinkedIn message that highlights your connection to the recruiter. Fellows in our program have found that sending a personalized cold email along with their application triples their response rate on average. Use our cold email template to craft the most effective introduction possible.
Netflix interview process
Netflix has a reputation for mainly hiring more experienced talent with a very limited internship program. Since employees tend to be more senior and experienced, engineers are extremely well compensated. Netflix also has a reputation for a high involuntary attrition rate with a culture of honesty and transparency. Many interview questions will be based on their culture deck, which is publicly available to prep before the interview. However, the Netflix interview process depends on the chosen role.
Software engineering Netflix interview process
The software engineering interview process usually only takes 3 weeks.
- Stage 1: Initial phone screen with HR.
- Step 2: Phone interview with an engineer.
- Stage 3: 2-part onsite interview. The first part consists of 4 technical interviews and 1 HR interview. If feedback is positive, the candidate moves to a meeting with 2 directors.
- Common questions: How would you optimize network traffic for screen resolution, brainstorm features to re-engage users, thoroughly design a staged launch plan including pre-launch A/B testings, given a binary search tree find the kth smallest element
Data science Netflix interview process
The data science interview process takes 2-4 weeks on average.
- Stage 1: Initial phone screen with HR.
- Step 2: A phone interview with the hiring manager.
- Stage 3: Onsite interview split into 2 parts: the first is with 4 data scientists/engineers and the second is with 3 higher level executives. Questions cover product, business, analytical, and stats topics. Statistics questions usually focus on A/B testing such as hypothesis testing. Candidates can expect some easy to medium difficulty SQL questions. Analytical questions include a hypothetical problem to analyze, metrics to evaluate product performance. Higher level executive interviewers tend to focus mostly on the candidate’s background and past experience rather than technical questions.
- Common questions: How would you design an experiment for a new feature, how do you know if one algorithm is better than the other, how do you prevent overfitting and complexity of a model, how do you measure and compare models, Given a month’s worth of login data from Netflix such as account_id, device_id, and metadata concerning payments, how would you detect fraud? (identity theft, payment fraud, etc.)
UX/UI design Netflix interview process
Although data about the UX/UI design interview process is limited, the interview process takes 2-8 weeks on average.
- Stage 1: Initial phone screen with HR.
- Step 2: A phone interview with either the hiring manager or designers from the team.
- Stage 3: Onsite interview which includes a panel portfolio review followed by a product brainstorm session. Candidates have a whiteboard exercise, plus another 30 minutes to put together polished mockups. Interviews are conducted by team members including PMs, engineers/devs, designers, design directors, and managers.
- Common questions: Come up with a solution for emphasizing recommendations within the Browse DVDs section of the site
Product management Netflix interview process
The product management interview process usually lasts 2-4 weeks.
- Stage 1: Initial phone screen with HR.
- Step 2: A phone interview with the hiring manager.
- Stage 3: An onsite interview.
How to prepare for Netflix interviews
Netflix interviews typically begin with a phone screen. While this initial screen is more casual, candidates should still prepare with company research. Even if you stream enough movies to see the Netflix layout in your dreams, so many questions come from Netflix’s culture page that candidates will still benefit from studying the company’s mission, values, products, and design by heart. Candidates who use language from Netflix’s culture page prove they took the initiative to study independently, which happens to be one of Netflix’s values. Using specific language from the company values page also appeals to recruiters who may be seeking these highly specific skills in the interview, possibly even checking them off a list. Check out some of the top phone interview questions and answers to further prep for your phone screen.
To prepare for technical interviews, candidates should time themselves solving popular interview questions. Practicing with a partner may be especially helpful for pair-programming questions. Since candidates will be asked to explain their thinking, aspiring Netflix employees should practice thinking aloud and working through questions step-by-step. Use our list of Netflix interview questions to further prepare for software engineering, data science, UX/UI design, and product management technical interviews.
Applicants should expect even more behavioral interviews onsite. Aligning with Netflix’s company values and mission will be especially important in this stage. Study popular behavioral interview questions from top tech companies and write down your answers, considering how they fit with Netflix’s company vision and values. Once you know how you’ll respond to each question, practice aloud until you can answer confidently.
Netflix offer process
The process doesn’t end with an offer letter–successful candidates should be ready to negotiate. Even among top companies like Facebook or Amazon, Netflix has a reputation for high salaries, especially for engineering roles. However, you can still try to negotiate equity, signing bonuses, and other benefits.
When applying and interviewing, try not to mention specific salary ranges or benefits. If the recruiter asks, tell them you’d like to do more research on market rates or simply say salary is “Negotiable, within reason.” This will make negotiating the offer letter much easier. Check out our negotiation guide for more information on how to negotiate successfully, which includes an email template you can adapt to the hiring manager’s responses.
Applying to jobs at other companies? For more tips on how to get a job at top tech companies like Netflix, check out our company guides. Each includes key information on the interview processes, common interview questions, company values, and everything else you need to get an offer.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentoring. With our tips and guidance, fellows in our program see their application response rate and double their interview scores.
We’ve already helped 1,000+ students and professionals land their dream job, usually in only 3-5 months. If you would like to work with any of our mentors to land your dream job faster, become a Pathrise fellow.
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